What Does Liability Insurance Cover?

If you’re interested in opening a small company, one of the things you may be considering is how to protect yourself and your business. Especially if you are starting your first company, you may also be wondering if you really need general liability coverage to run your business? The short answer is – yes. Many small business owners invest in general liability insurance to protect their company from a variety of different issues that could arise while they’re operating their business. Keep scrolling to learn more about what general liability insurance for business is and how it can help protect your business and keep it afloat when the unexpected happens.

General Liability Insurance Basics

General liability insurance (GLI) can help cover claims that your business caused bodily injury or property damage. Sometimes this coverage is also known as commercial general liability insurance (CGL). To break it down in more detail, general liability insurance covers your business in case of:
• Advertising Injury – This is when another party claims your business causes injury by defaming someone else or another company.
• Bodily Injury And Property Damage – This is when another party claims your business caused a bodily injury or property damage such as breaking a client’s windows while they were away at work.
• Copyright Infringement – This is when another party claims that your business used someone else’s work in your company’s ads without their permission.
• Reputational Harm – This is when another party claims you said something negative about another company in an interview that negatively impacted their business.

What Does Liability Insurance Cover?

General liability insurance helps to cover claims against your business for a variety of different costs. This can include costs for property damage, medical expenses if someone is injured while at your business, administration costs to handle claims, and court and settlement costs for covered claims.
While general liability insurance does protect your business from a variety of different claims, it’s important to be aware that there are specific instances that general liability insurance will not cover. A general liability insurance policy does not cover:
• Employee Injury or Illness – In order for your employees to be covered if injured or made ill while working for you, you will need to purchase workers’ compensation insurance. This will give your employees certain benefits to assist them while recuperating from illness or personal injury.
• Commercial Auto accidents – A commercial auto insurance policy is needed to cover you or any employee that gets in an automobile accident while driving for work.
• Damage to Your Own Business Property – Commercial property insurance is necessary to protect your rented or owned buildings and business equipment.
• Errors in Professional Services – Professional liability insurance is necessary to protect you from legal costs if a client sues you for a mistake in the services that your business provided.
• Illegal Acts – If you or an employee purposefully commit a crime, general liability insurance will not cover any costs associated with that crime.
Remember, if you do not invest in general liability insurance for your business the fees and costs that come with handling these types of claims can quickly overwhelm and bankrupt you and your business. When you add up the cost of administrative work, court fees, and settlement costs, your business could be on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Dunham Insurance Services is a boutique agency offering the best insurance policies throughout Florida and the rest of the country. Their driving mission is to reduce your business’s overall insurance costs by providing the very best policies. Contact them to discuss your general liability insurance needs for your business today!